A poignant story of life in India during the pandemic that mixes loss, hope, and even a mystery solved by imaginative, lively, almost-nine-year-old Swara. When the pandemic hits and India goes into lockdown, high-spirited Swara keeps up her daily chats with her just-as-imaginative grandmother, Pitter Paati, through video calls. But soon Pitter Paati becomes too ill to even call, and then Swara's parents say she has died of the virus. Swara can't believe it. Pitter Paati would not just leave! It's impossible! As Swara investigates the mystery of her grandmother’s disappearance, she stumbles upon a neighborhood mystery as well. With help from her friends, usually-annoying brother, and clues she’s certain came from Pitter Paati, Swara solves that very real mystery and, slowly, comes to terms with the truth about her grandmother. She also realizes Pitter Paati will be with her, in many important ways, forever. Praise for When Impossible Happens : “Deftly combines humor and pathos to authentically represent grief through a child’s eyes while simultaneously treating readers to a gripping whodunit.” — Kirkus Reviews “Swara is an engaging narrator in a cast of distinctive characters that bring her neighborhood to life, even amid a global pandemic. The characters’ authenticity shines during scenes of online school with a compassionate teacher hearing the very real concerns of children living through COVID-19. Humor keeps readers engaged through clever wordplay . . . A welcome perspective on life, loss, and current events.” — School Library Journal “In this much-needed fictional account of a non-American country during lockdown, De Suza perfectly captures the voice of an overeager 9-year-old, with tones of The Westing Game 's Turtle Wexler and a sweet, interwoven story about how hard grief can be to combat . . . Young readers eager for longer chapter books and international stories will enjoy stepping into Swara’s shoes.” — Booklist “Interspersed with occasional lists and poems, brief, conversational third-person chapters trace the stages of grief, accompanying Swara’s investigation and deeply felt emotional beats as she slowly comes to terms with her loss. A compassionately rendered story, told with hope, humor, and pathos, for anyone navigating dark times.” — Publishers Weekly Jane De Suza is the author of several bestselling adult and children’s books published in India. She writes a humor column for The Hindu, a daily newspaper in India, and had a parenting column for Good Housekeeping. Jane earned an MBA at the Xavier School of Management in Jamshedpur, India, and has worked in advertising for many years as a Creative Director. She currently lives in Singapore with her family. When the World Went Dark The times were dark, alarming, threatening. Clouds of fear kept people bolted and barred into their own homes. You couldn’t open a window to draw in a deep breath. You couldn’t trust anything that anyone else had touched. In fact, if you remember, you couldn’t even put a toe out of your front door. Swara should know because she tested it out. Ruth was the one who’d thrown her the challenge. She claimed to be her best friend, although you might doubt it after this. They lived in apartments opposite each other and often they sat cross--legged on their doormats and chatted, yelling to and fro. It was Ruth who said, “Swara, you cannot put even a toe out of your door.” Swara scoffed at this. “Why? What if I do?” “Try and see. It is banned! There is a high--tech app that will make your toe shrivel up and fall off.” If you’ve been almost nine, like Swara was, you know what absolutely had to be done if such an out-rageous challenge was thrown down. Swara, quite naturally, had to still her beating heart, hold her breath, kick off her slipper, and wiggle her big toe an inch out of her open door. It did not fall off and land on the doormat. It stayed firmly on her foot. “You are full of lies, Ruth!” “I am not. I am the Ruth, the whole Ruth, and nothing but the—” “Fine, but my toe is fine too. It is my toe, the whole toe, and nothing but the toe.” “It will not be for long. Keep watching it. Over the days, it will turn red, purple, black, and then fall right off. Just you wait.” Swara retreated, scared. And began to watch the toe for signs. The times were like that, as we’ve mentioned. Dark, alarming, threatening times. And then, of course, school was closed—-out of the blue! No waking up to a screaming alarm clock, or drinking milk while sleepwalking, or pulling on the uniform and buttoning it wrong, or running down to catch the yellow school bus and missing the favorite seat. Like most kids, Swara spent the first week playing, eating, and sleeping and, like most kids, got fed up with it all. Nothing fun was on the Allowed List. No playing downstairs, no eating out, no meeting friends. To add to her dismay, her toe sported a smallish reddish spot one morning, which turned her as white